Kaspersky, a cybersecurity vendor that co-founded an international working group comprising private IT companies and law enforcement agencies to combat stalkerware, published the second part of its research regarding tech-enabled abuse. The study surveyed 7,600 respondents across 19 countries to examine the prevalence of technology-facilitated harm. The data shows that almost 50 percent of victims identified their perpetrator as an individual within their social circle. Another 40 percent stated the abuse came from an unknown person.
The research quantifies the relationship dynamics between victims and perpetrators. Friends accounted for 15 percent of the documented cases. Current partners represented 10 percent of incidents, followed by colleagues at eight percent, family members at seven percent and ex-partners at six percent. Respondents in the United States, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Indonesia reported higher instances of abuse originating from close acquaintances. The data also reveals a demographic disparity in online comfort, with 62 percent of female respondents reporting they feel unsafe on the internet compared to 54 percent of male respondents.
The vendor identified variances in digital literacy across age demographics. Eighty-one percent of Generation Z respondents expressed familiarity with the terminology surrounding tech-enabled abuse. That figure drops to 64 percent for the Baby Boomer demographic. Almost 60 percent of the Generation Z cohort reported experiencing at least one form of digital abuse in the preceding 12 months. The research indicates a reciprocal pattern within these interactions, where individuals who experienced abuse from a known associate were more prone to report engaging in similar behavior toward that specific demographic.
“From a cybersecurity perspective, the fact that nearly 50% of tech-enabled abuse cases originate from someone within a victim’s social circle significantly changes how we should approach protection. These threats often do not look like traditional cyberattacks, they are embedded in everyday interactions, trusted devices, and shared access to accounts or data. This makes them harder to detect and easier to overlook. Strengthening digital hygiene, understanding how access and permissions can be misused, and using trusted security tools are essential steps to reducing exposure and preventing such abuse from escalating,” says Tatyana Shishkova, Lead Security Researcher, Acting Head of Research Center Americas & Europe at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).
“These findings challenge the persistent assumption that technology-facilitated abuse is primarily anonymous or perpetrated by strangers. Instead, they highlight how such harm is often embedded within existing relationships, spaces typically associated with trust and emotional safety. In these contexts, abuse can become part of a cycle of mutual escalation, where individuals respond to perceived harm, control, or humiliation with further harmful behaviour. Digital environments, with their immediacy and intensity, can amplify these dynamics, making it easier for conflict to escalate and harder to interrupt. Recognising these relational patterns is critical to understanding and addressing the full scope of technology-facilitated abuse,” says Dr Leonie Maria Tanczer, Associate Professor at UCL Computer Science, an academic faculty, and Head of the Department's Gender and Tech Research Lab.
